


On Matt and Love

by happybeans



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Gen, I kinda added some millennial slang. Just go with it., Law School, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21667177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happybeans/pseuds/happybeans
Summary: After an accidental friendly "I love you", Foggy decides to tell Matt he loves him in as many ways as possible. It's super effective!
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Comments: 16
Kudos: 104





	On Matt and Love

Matt’s been getting ready for class for a little bit when he grabs his wallet and room key, saying to Foggy, “Alright, I’m about to head out. See you later, Fogs.”

“Love you,” Foggy says without looking up from his laptop. “Have fun at class.”

It’s not until there’s a palpable silence that Foggy realizes his slip. He colors red—maybe it was too soon for things like that?—but doesn’t take it back. He looks up to see Matt’s face color even redder than his own must be. 

“Um, uh,” Matt stutters. Foggy’s not sure if he’s heard Matt stutter like that before. “Okay, bye,” Matt finishes awkwardly, and he practically bolts out the door.

This is when Foggy decides they need a change.

\--

So the thing is, Foggy gets it. He doesn’t take it personally, the whole ‘okay, bye’ thing. Matt grew up in an orphanage. Maybe despite the Catholicism, the nuns weren’t very showy of affection-y. It happens. It sucks, but it happens, and Foggy gets it. 

That doesn’t mean it’s right.

Matt’s great, and Foggy loves him in the gooey friendship way. He’s going to tell him that. And if Matt’s not ready to hear it in words, then fine. He’ll tell him every other way he can.

So he does. 

\--

Plan A of Making Matt Murdock Feel Loved is food. Who doesn’t love food? And Matt already doesn’t do so great with eating his three square meals a day, so it’s like a two stones, one bird situation. 

“Foggy…what is this?”

“Sniff it,” Foggy says, just to be silly. He doesn’t really expect Matt to really sniff, but he does. 

And it is silly.

“…grilled cheese?”

“Yes, grilled cheese!” Foggy says. “And it’s really good grilled cheese, too. I made that myself with love. Hurry up and eat it before it gets cold.”

“… You didn’t have to do that,” Matt says with that face he makes. You know the one. The ‘I don’t want you to burden yourself’ face. “I don’t want you to burden yourself,” he says, right on time.

Foggy rolls his eyes. “I’m rolling my eyes. It’s fine, bro,” he says, “I wanted one for myself and figured I’d make you one while I was at it.”

That’s actually true stuff. He just happened to spend twice as long on Matt’s, just to get it the perfect amount of crispy brown. 

“Foggy, holy shit,” Matt says, mouth full and eyes wide. “This is actually amazing. Why is this so good?”

“That would be the love,” Foggy says with a wink. “I just winked.”

Except wait a second. Speaking the wink aloud made it weird as fuck.

Matt pauses in his chewing and smirks. “Foggy, what did you do to this grilled cheese?”

Foggy laughs. “Nothing, I swear. It’s just a normal grilled cheese. Sorry, that totally sounded super weird.”

“Did you fuck my grilled cheese, Foggy?”

They both laugh, loud and snorting and beautiful.

\--

Plan A goes really well for a while. Foggy’s able to play it off most of the time with an ‘Oh, I was grabbing something for myself, too’ or a ‘The vending machine was on the way back from class anywho’. 

The issue is that Foggy gets a little cocky, and he starts to implement Plan B at the same time. This, to say the least, does not go so well.

“Hey, Matt,” Foggy says as he steps into the dorm. “I come bearing gifts.”

Matt’s head whips up. “Pardon?” he says, and the nun-phrase makes Foggy chuckle a laugh.

“Well, one gift,” Foggy corrects. He walks over to his bed to toss down his bag then walks over to Matt, who’s sitting up on his bed with his laptop. Like every other night. “Feel.”

He drops the blanket down over Matt’s legs as Matt pushes his laptop to the side. 

“A blanket?” Matt asks as he starts feeling it up.

“Pretty soft, right? It’s grey and seemed comfortable as hell. Made me think of you.”

Matt’s quiet for a moment. Then he frowns. 

Foggy feels the breath freeze in his chest. 

“You…” Matt starts. He pushes the blanket off of himself and says, “You should return this. Thank you, but no.”

“Is it the color?” Foggy asks after a brief moment. He breathes a confused laugh as he says, “Because it’s, like, a nice dark grey? So it’s totally cool if you end up spilling coffee or something on it. Totally won’t show at all.”

“Believe it or not, I don’t mind the color, Foggy,” Matt says with a failed smirk. “Look, this was sweet of you, but you shouldn’t. Waste your money.”

Foggy shrugs with one shoulder. This isn’t how he expected this moment to go down, to say the least. “Buddy, it’s fine,” he tries. “It’s not a waste. It’s a gift.”

“But it’s not Christmas. Or my birthday,” Matt says. He looks genuinely upset by this, like Foggy just killed his metaphorical dog instead of gave him the softest of the world’s creations. 

“So?”

“So? So… So you should take it back.”

“Matt, I didn’t keep the receipt. I don’t get it. Just keep the blanket. I got it for you.”

“You…” Matt gets up then, standing and putting his hands in his hair. His face is screwed up like the time they attempted a Warhead-eating competition.

Foggy takes a step back. “Matt, I really don’t get the big deal here. It’s just a blanket.”

“But it’s not just a blanket!” Matt says. “It’s…” he trails off and clenches his jaw. He mumbles something to himself then says louder and to Foggy, “Thanks.” He fakes a tragic-ass smile that’s more of a cringe and says, “I’m going to go for a walk.”

And he pulls on his shoes before Foggy can even think of any words to say. “Matt, you don’t have to go,” Foggy tries, but Matt’s already wrapping his cane around his wrist. 

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks again,” Matt says, looking anything but happy as he leaves.

When he gets back, Foggy’s spread the blanket across Matt’s bed. He doesn’t say anything about it; he just rubs his hand softly against it throughout the night. 

And Foggy thinks that’s enough.

\--

Plan A wasn’t so bad. Plan B was a disaster. Foggy wasn’t going to push for a discussion about the blanket-thing, because Matt clearly wasn’t having it, so he just decides to forage on with Plan C.

The main issue, he thinks, is the money spent. Matt doesn’t want to feel like a waste or a burden. And, for some reason, being treated seemed to make him feel that way. That’s okay. Foggy gets it. Like, he doesn’t get it, but he thinks he kind of-sort of understands it. A little.

So Plan C is to get creative. He thinks that maybe something heart-felt but free would pave the way into Matty’s heart. 

It’s time for some arts and crafts.

His first thought it to draw a wholesome picture—even though he literally has zero art skills. But he realizes at the last second that Matt’s blind and that even if it’s drawn really deep, he would probably still not know what the hell Foggy’s attempt at art is. Even somebody with working eyes would probably struggle.

He attempts some macaroni art while Matt’s at class one day, but we won’t even talk about that disaster. Why he thought that was a good idea, he’ll never know.

Ultimately, he decides to play the long game. He learns some braille from the internet then borrows the slate and stylus he’s seen in Matt’s desk. He’s sure Matt won’t mind if he borrows just a sheet of his fancy braille cardstock.

Google says Foggy has to write the whole message backwards, which is complicated as hell at first, but he thinks he really gets the hang of it. 

And then, just to make it extra okay, he waits until it’s exactly halfway to Matt’s birthday. 

“Dear Matt,” his braille message says, “I am not sure if you noticed, but it is your half birthday today! How does it feel to be 24 and a half? Old man! I hope you have a great day today.” He draws a little smiley-face out of dots then and tags it, “Love, Foggy.”

He leaves before Matt gets back, placing the note on his pillow for him to digest on his own time. Giving Matt space was step two of Plan C, since he thinks Matt needs to extra time to let it sink in. And isn’t that a sad thought, that one heart-warming letter would be enough to take Matt to his knees.

But Foggy definitely gets that. Because when he gets back from class, Matt’s come and gone, and on Foggy’s pillow is one braille note reading, “Foggy. Thank you. You’re the best friend I have ever had.” And even though it’s short, and even though it’s not as explicitly put as Foggy’s, he knows that’s Matt’s way of saying it back. 

\--

The notes continue after that, a back and forth of messages. Most of them are just silly little jokes or one-off zingers, but some of them can get kind of wholesome. And one thing that Foggy notices?

Sometimes, Matt says it back when it’s through braille letter.

For whatever reason, Matt finds it easier to read and write it than to say it. This is a good sign. 

He decides to go on to Plan D, which is basically just a spin-off of plans A and B, except the only gift is coffee. Because they’re in law school, okay? Coffee is practically worth its weight in gold here. 

Trust him, this plan makes sense.

“Consume,” he commands, like he’s an emperor speaking with a lowly serf.

Matt laughs, eyebrows drawn together and grinning. “Excuse me?”

“Lay out thine hand,” Foggy says, “and receive these wares of mine.”

Perhaps so thrown off by the wording he doesn’t even get what’s happening, Matt puts out his hand, and Foggy turns it to the side, placing the coffee cup within its grasp.

“Consume,” he repeats with a stuttered laugh. Then he turns to walk away.

“Is this coffee?” Matt asks. His other hand comes up to feel for the sip-hole and he turns it to take a drink. His eyes light up as he says, excitedly, “Is this mocha?”

“You already know it is, Matty-dear.” Foggy might be a little too satisfied with himself. Rip to his bank account, but it’ll be worth it. 

“Foggy, you king,” Matt says reverently. “Thank you.” 

“False idols,” Foggy sings. 

Matt snorts a laugh. “Whatever, Protestant.”

Foggy’s not even Protestant; his family is. It’s still hilarious, though. 

“Ugh, whatever,” he says. “Just drink your beverage.”

Matt raises the cup in thanks, that genuine little smile on his face. Success.

\--

The holidays come and go, and Foggy manages to convince Matt to come visit his family with him this time. Really, Foggy wasn’t going to take no for an answer this year. Nobody should spend Christmas alone—unless, of course, you don’t celebrate Christmas, in which case, rock on, enjoy your free time however you choose. 

One of the stipulations of Matt’s agreement was that he leaves for church on Christmas Eve night, and as if Foggy would let him go alone. They go together, bundled up against the cold, and even though it’s a boring ass hour-and-a-half of Foggy’s life, it’s totally worth it to see the look on Matt’s face after.

They head back to Foggy’s parents’ place, where his parents and sister have already settled down in bed for the night. 

“Want some hot chocolate before bed?” Foggy whispers in the dark of the kitchen. He twists the fancy light-knob to turn the lights up halfway, letting the streetlights fill in the gaps.

Matt hums. “That sounds good, thanks.” He sits himself down on a chair at the kitchen table, cane set between his legs while Foggy heats the milk on the stove.

They’re quiet for a minute before Matt whispers:

“Hey, Foggy.”

“Yo.”

He looks over to see Matt twisting his cane. Oh, it’s that kind of conversation. 

“Thank you,” Matt says. “For coming with me tonight. It’s the best Christmas Eve I’ve had since...well, in a long time.”

Foggy wonders what he was going to say then. Don’t let it have been the best since his dad died. Please let it have been, like, two years ago or something. 

Foggy’s going to pretend that’s what he would’ve said.

“Don’t worry about it, buddy. That’s what friends are for,” Foggy says. He gives the milk a final stir then turns off the heat. He pours the milk over the cocoa mix in each of the two mugs then starts stirring those up.

“No, I mean…” Matt makes a frustrated growl noise. “Look, you know I...have difficulty...with feelings and emotions and such.”

Yeah. To say the least.

Foggy picks up the mugs, carrying them over to the table. 

“I’m listening,” he says as he places Matt’s in front of him. “Your mug is at your two o’clock.”

“Thanks,” Matt says simply, pulling the mug into his hands. His head tilts down as though to look at it as he continues, “But really, I, um...thank you. Tonight really meant a lot to me. And…”

Red-faced, Matt lifts his head up to Foggy as he finishes: “I love you.”

And doesn’t that just make Foggy’s heart go pitter-patter. 

Matt looks tense, and, knowing the amount of effort that was put into that, Foggy figures the best way to go is to be casual: 

“Thanks, bud,” he says, pushing Matt’s shoulder. “Love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Was never sure if I'd post this one, but after re-reading and getting hit with the wholesome feels, I figured at least one person might like this. Whoever you are, I'm glad you enjoyed!


End file.
